# WHOIS Lookup — Expiry, Status Codes and Delegation

> Registration dates, transfer locks and status codes in plain English, cross-checked against live DNS.

To look up domain registration, enter a domain and its registrar, dates, status codes and nameservers are returned from RDAP — the structured protocol that replaced WHOIS. The expiry gets a countdown, every EPP status code is translated out of registry jargon, and the nameservers on file at the registry are compared against the ones DNS is actually serving, which is where a broken delegation shows up.

**URL:** https://convertto.tech/t/whois-lookup
**Category:** Network Tools (https://convertto.tech/c/network-tools)
**Privacy:** Uses a server request
**Cost:** Free, no sign-up
**Last updated:** 2026-08-01

## Key facts

- **Privacy:** Uses a server — the address you enter is sent to perform the lookup
- **Source:** RDAP — the structured successor to WHOIS
- **Cross-check:** Registry nameservers compared against live DNS
- **Cost:** Free, unlimited, no sign-up

## How to use

1. Enter a domain to pull its registry record.
2. Check the expiry countdown and whether a transfer lock is set.
3. Read the status codes in plain English rather than EPP jargon.
4. Compare the registry nameservers against what DNS is serving.

## FAQ

### Why can I not see who owns the domain?

Since GDPR came into force in 2018, registrars redact registrant names, emails and addresses for most domains. Registrar, dates, status codes and nameservers remain public; personal details generally do not, and no lookup tool can reveal them.

### What is RDAP?

The Registration Data Access Protocol, which ICANN mandated as the replacement for WHOIS. It returns structured JSON with proper access controls, rather than WHOIS's unstructured free text that differed for every registry.

### What does clientTransferProhibited mean?

Your registrar has locked the domain against being transferred away, and it is the cheapest protection there is against domain theft. Codes beginning "client" were set by your registrar and you can usually change them; codes beginning "server" were set by the registry and you cannot.

### The registry and DNS list different nameservers. Why?

Either a delegation change is still propagating, or the nameservers were updated in one place and not the other. It is a common cause of a domain that resolves for some people and not others, which is why both lists are shown side by side here.

### My domain expired. Can I still get it back?

Usually, for a while. Most domains enter a redemption period of around 30 days where the original registrant can recover them for a fee, then a short pending-delete window, then they drop and anyone can register them. The status codes on this page tell you which stage a domain has reached.

## Sources

- [RFC 9083 — RDAP JSON Responses](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9083) — IETF
- [RFC 5731 — EPP Domain Name Mapping](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5731) — IETF
- [ICANN EPP Status Codes](https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/epp-status-codes-2014-06-16-en) — ICANN

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